


Decisions Made By Doubtless Reason

by NimWallace



Category: Sherlock - Fandom, Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 10:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15411141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimWallace/pseuds/NimWallace
Summary: In which Watson wonders why Holmes ever moved in to 221b Baker Street.TW: please know that this fix has minor references to child abuse. If that is a trigger for you, please do NOT read it. Stay safe





	Decisions Made By Doubtless Reason

It is a common fact that men of note take pleasure in displaying their fortunes.

Whether purposely or not, they tended to flounce it through expensive dinner parties and estates, often accompanied by regular nights spent at the theatre or opera.

Sherlock Holmes was not one such man.

He wasn’t rich in the traditional sense of the word—in fact his regular income was largely average.

It was the fact that, at any moment and for any reason, money was undeniably at his disposal.

Between his brother and ridiculously rich clients, cash had always been on hand.

Why, then, had he needed a flatmate?

This is the topic which John Watson sat contemplating on a rainy July afternoon.

Holmes had always been able to afford anything he wished.

In fact, he owned several items of incredible value—his Stradivarius, a rare copy of Shakespeare’s A Midsummers Nights Dream, and even an old pipe which, though Watson had never learned the story of, could tell from the rich engravings it was not a cheap investment.

Holmes also frequently took to concerts and nice restaurants.

All this Watson pondered as he sat, wondering why on earth a man like Sherlock Holmes, a man who so valued his solitude and had a disposal of such wealth, would ask him to move into the crammed little flat of 221B.

“Holmes?”

Holmes was bent over his microscope, undoubtedly observing some chemical or organism imperative to his case. It took a moment for his reply:

“Yes, Watson?”

“Why me?”

Holmes looked up with a start.

It was more blunt than Watson intended, and he immediately attempted to repair what he’d said;

“That is—why did you move in with me? When you could’ve afforded the rent yourself.”

Holmes blinked a few times. Then he sighed and stood away from his microscope and a solemn look came over his face.

“I should’ve known you would figure that out. You’ve learned from my methods. Why do you think I chose to move into a small flat in central London with a man I didn’t know when I could be anywhere and have anything?”

Watson picked at his armchair, suddenly feeling very acutely aware of Holmes’s sharp grey eyes on him.

“Well, using your methods I’d say. . . .you. . .chose a small apart because you had a bad experience somewhere larger, and. . .you chose to live with a stranger because. . .you were lonely.”

Holmes smiled just faintly, looking at the ground.

“I grew up in a very large estate in the country. My father was a drunkard and had no mercy on my mother, brother, or myself.” He paused, with a deep throated sigh. “I moved in with a stranger because. . . you looked at me differently, than the others did.” Watson cocked his head. “Everyone is always looking at me like they’re afraid.”

“I had no idea,” Watson said quietly. “I amsorry you had to go through that, Sherlock.”

Holmes looked startled. Watson himself was startled. He hadn’t been expecting to use his friend’s Christian name, it had just slipped out.

“I-I’m sorry—“

“Please, don’t apologize, Doctor. I rather liked it.” Holmes smiled, and Watson breathed a sigh of relief.

“Holmes?”

“Hm, John?”

“I am glad. That you moved here.”

“So am I.”


End file.
